Letter of the Day | No confidence in the banking system

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I have lost all confidence in the commercial banking system. It is not secure.

Issued with a new debit card, which I was told has a chip and a high level of security, a fraudulent transaction was done using this card. I was fortunate to catch it in time before my account was emptied.

I understand that this is a frequent occurrence. New cards are being hacked. The fraudsters seem to be far ahead of the banks in technology. I am now at the stage where I cannot use my cheque book and my debit card due to fraud.

Tapping of cards also leave clients vulnerable. The ATM machines are not secure and, in addition, they often do not have money, especially at the month end.

I do not trust online banking, again, because accounts are not secure, no matter how strong your password.

As well as the external fraudsters, I am doubtful of the honesty of the bank’s staff in branch and their call centres. When your money is stolen, the banks take weeks to investigate and restore it, if they accept responsibility.

Yet, these banks continue to encourage clients to use online banking and ATMs. Some banks discourage in-person banking, charging a fee to use the teller. They do not have enough tellers as well and so you can be in the bank for hours to complete a five-minute transaction.

Salaries now go into bank accounts and payments from other sources. There are also standing payments to be made through the bank.

I need to be assured that the banking system is secure. I cannot be continuously on tenterhooks, constantly monitoring my account to catch fraud before it’s too late.

At this point, after being hacked more than once, and now from a new debit card, I have no confidence in the banking system.

DISGUSTED